Waiting has become one of the most common experiences of everyday life in Pakistan. Yet it is rarely discussed as a public issue. It is treated as a personal inconvenience rather than a reflection of how institutions function.

Citizens wait in National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra) offices to obtain identity documents. They wait for passports. They wait for electricity to return after power outages. They wait for water tankers in neighbourhoods where piped water no longer reaches homes regularly. They wait in traffic congestion and at overcrowded bus stops. They wait for court cases to be decided, for building approvals to be issued and for government departments to respond to applications. Millions also wait for visas, work permits and overseas employment opportunities, often investing years of savings and planning in processes whose outcomes remain uncertain.

This waiting is so deeply embedded in everyday life that it has become normalised. However, when an entire population spends a significant portion of its time waiting for services that should function efficiently, the issue is no longer personal. It becomes political.

The problem is not the delay alone. Every society experiences delays. The real issue is uncertainty. Citizens are often unable to predict how long a process will take or whether it will be completed at all. As a result, planning becomes difficult and insecurity becomes a permanent feature of daily life.

From queues at the Nadra office to the struggles of getting a water tanker or a court hearing, Pakistanis spend an extraordinary share of their lives waiting — a burden that falls hardest on those with the fewest alternatives

From queues at the Nadra office to the struggles of getting a water tanker or a court hearing, Pakistanis spend an extraordinary share of their lives waiting — a burden that falls hardest on those with the fewest alternatives

A visit to any Nadra office illustrates this........

© Dawn (Magazines)